LS6427

iTrader: (2)

Yes, any cooler will work. DO NOT get a new factory cooler. Just get the one I used, the one thats in that link from Advance Auto, it fits perfectly.
And check this out to see how and where to do it.
https://ls1tech.com/forums/automatic...g+fluid+cooler


.....and you must drain the coolant system/block/heads BIG TIME, that **** is in there hiding and its all built up in the block. I flushed mine 3 times after my PS cooler leaked fluid into my system, then I figured out that I had to really, seriously flush it out.

.

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

+1 - You'll need to power flush the system.

If you don't race your car, you might just want to bypass the cooler entirely. Others have done the same. Like LS6427 points out above, GM designed the cooler to take care of the car in all possible extremes in which it may run. This car was built with the potential to race. (I think it even came in a stripped-down race package when I purchased mine.)

MiniTransAm

iTrader: (3)

Awesome! Did you get the installation kit that they also sell? My PS pump has been whining lately and I figured that when I change that I'm going to put a different P/S cooler in just to avoid this problem. Does anything need to be done to the radiator to cap off those P/S cooler connections?

Also, how did you "seriously" flush everything out of there?

MiniTransAm

iTrader: (3)

Also since I don't have an A4 I could mount this in front of the radiator like you have your trans fluid cooler correct?

LS6427

iTrader: (2)

No, I bought that $24.00 cooler, the upper radiator hose that does not have the PS fluid cooler in it, and a piece of 3/8" hose. Thats it.

If you don't want to buy a new upper radiator hose and you want to keep that factory PS fluid cooler there, you can just cap off the two ports. I;'m not sure what size caps to get though because I got rid of that thing altogether. Too easy and simple to just put the new hose on.

Here's how I flush when I want to do a total, complete, thorough flush of everything. Like I said, I did 3 normal quicky flushes and the black crap kept coming out. So I did this and my coolant has been crystal clear since.

Best/easiest way to flush and get every drop of old coolant out.

-Cold engine.
-Remove radiator fill cap.
-Remove the t-stat from the housing. Leave the housing attached to the rubber radiator hose, just remove the 2 housing bolts and pull it away from the water to pump to get to the t-stat. (2-3 minute job).
-Put t-stat housing back on. (1 minute) Just put one bolt in, no need to put them both in, there’s no pressure in the system during the flush.
-Take the entire radiator drain valve (petcock) "off" and let it drain, don't just open the valve itself. It'll drain faster with it off and that’s what you want. ((Buy a new petcock valve before starting this flush process, sometimes they break when you remove them all the way just because they're cheap plastic and they get briddle over time, they're like $2.00))
-Take a hose and stick it in the radiator fill cap, running medium to high.
-Start the engine.
-Let it run for about 15-20 minutes or until the water is running out the drain CLEAR.
-((If you want to, you can wait till it runs clear, close the drain valve, add a bottle of radiator flush and let it run for 15 minutes, then drain it all again. Then open the drain and put the hose in for about 5 minutes run it all out till its CLEAR. The flush chemical will help break up the crap thats stuck DEEP in there.))
-When it runs clear your entire system is clean.
-Remove the overflow reservoir from the car and clean it out real good. (I had to use gasoline to clean mine out because the sludge and grime was so thick inside. The gas broke it all down and then it flushed right out. I filled it about 1/3 up with gasoline and shook the hell out of it real vigorously, the black stuff kept coming out. I did that like 4 seperate times till no more chunks of black crap came out. Make sure the lines that go to the reservoir are also cleaned out. My sludge came from my power steering fluid leaking into my coolant system.)
-Put the t-stat back in.
-Put the overflow reservoir back in.
-Put the drain valve back in. Use the new one, what the hell.
-Put half a jug of Dexcool in the radiator. (Or if you live in very cold places, 1 to 1 ½ jugs of Dexcool)
-Fill the rest with water.
you do not need to use distilled water, clean hose water is just fine, just make sure your city water is clean and not total crap quality.

**Bleeding the system of air:
Start it up and let it run and warm up till the t-stat opens. I rapidly squeeze the upper radiator hose like 20 times while its warming up to help move any air bubbles through the system and by the t-stat on the engine side. You’ll see the level drop as you squeeze it, its sucking the coolant through the system. You wioll soon see the coolant start to flow in the radiator fill neck, once it starts to flow the level should drop down alot, immediately top it off with coolant/water. Then the flow will stop. Wait one more time for the t-stat to open again and start to flow, if it drops down again top it off again. Do it a 3rd time if you want to make sure. I always massage the upper hose during the whole process to keep any air bubbles moving through. Always works like a charm. Just keep checking your temp gauge until the t-stat opens for the first time to make sure it’s not sitting there overheating from a trapped bubble. May take 10-15 minutes for the t-stat to open the first time.
If you do start to get hot while sitting there and the t-stat will not open…..you have an air bubble on the engine side of the t-stat. Shut the engine off and rapidly squeeze the upper and lower radiator hoses again. Then start the engine again and see if the t-stat will open. Even after it seems topped off after a couple cycles…check it the next time you have a cold engine…top off if needed.

.

LS6427

iTrader: (2)

You could. I had my father make me those two round aluminum spacer/sleeves for the bolts so the cooler would stand away from the frame. Very simple aluminum tubing from Home Depot I think. This way fresh ambient air from the air dam could hit the cooler and still have fresh ambient air go directly to the front surface of my radiator.

Please don't mount it up against your radiator like so many people do. You will pretty much remove that surface area of your radiator from its cooling effectiveness. Somehow mount it at least 2 inches away from the surface of the radiator.

.

gregc_sanchez

iTrader: (3)

if you dont mind could you put up a pic of how you put yours on, and a brief description on how you did it, i'm planning to do this tomorrow if at all possible, thanks in advance, you've been a great help to me in the past LS6427!

LS6427

iTrader: (2)

Pics below:

The other cooler wired to the frame behind the air dam is my power steering cooler.

For the tranny cooler:
I simply drilled the two holes and bolted in on with those two bolts and those spacers.
Then I took my two tranny cooler lines that normally went to the tranny cooler port on the passenger side of the radiator and I ran them to this new cooler. I no longer use my factory tranny cooler thats inside the radiator. I took my radiator out 2 weeks ago, had a radiator shop remove my plastic side tank on my radiator and removed the tranny cooler, the lower port started leaking....then they used plugs to permanentely plug the two tranny port holes in that plastic side tank. I had a power steering fluid cooler leak like a year ago, that fluid has been eating away at the inside gasket that keeps coolant from leaking out of the two tranny cooler ports in that side plastic tank. It was completely eaten away and partially disolved.
So now I just have that aftermarket trannt cooler and aftermarket power steering fluid cooler.

Both the factory PS fluid cooler and factory tranny cooler are pathetic....they do not cool the fluids, they actually make them hotter. Especially the PS fluid cooler.

I'm going to install another tranny cooler soon and I'm putting it on the other side the same way. It will greatly extend the life of your tranny. My 4L60E with my torque and HP is going on 4 years since it was rebuilt by my friend, and it is 100% perfect still. I never expected it to last this long, and I drive it every single day. I think that cooler has been all the difference.

.

Chesty Puller

I have a 9 second video but it won't let me add it. It looks almost like melted chocolate. I noticed the coolant leak and it was leaking orange fluid, but its from a loose connection on the right side of the radiator.